Ascension : Untold Secrets
by Hiasobi
Summary: While at Hogwarts the fight is just beginnning, another war is being fought around the world that the english Wizarding World is unaware of. [Take the Risk. It's in you.] You have Potential, Draco. What you do with it, is up to you.
1. Prologue

Things you will need to know about this fiction:

1) This is AU: meaning Alternate Universe. This follows all the books up to _Goblet Of Fire_. 

2) _Order of the Phoenix_ is followed up except Sirius is alive. Harry checks the mirror to talk to Sirius and when Sirius is there, they delay the visit to the Department of Mystery and they figure out Voldemort was playing with his head. 

3) Harry is still shown the prophesy by Dumbledore, and while he doesn't destroy the Headmaster's office, he is still feeling betrayed. 

4) _Half-Blooded Prince_ is not followed. Dumbledore is alive and this starts off when they are in school.

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**Prologue**

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Location: Hogwarts

Hermione Granger was known as the Smartest Witch of Her Year. Some prophesied that she would become the Smartest Witch of Her Age when she grew up. Teachers loved her and students looked up to her academically if not socially. She was the pinnacle of Standard Knowledge.

As Hagrid the Grounds Keeper once said, " They haven't come up with a charm our little Hermione can't do."

Hermione Granger was seen as a close friend with Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and Ronald Weasley. The three of them have been known to get into trouble together and have foiled Dark Lord's plans when the adults couldn't.

Hermione Granger was a member of the Gryffindor House in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, known for their courage and brashness.

Hermione Granger was top of her class in every subject she took and there wasn't one she couldn't master except, according to rumor, Divination. It was famous among the school staff and students, the tale of one Miss Granger walking out of Professor Trelawney's class that time years ago, proclaiming it as rubbish.

Hermione Granger was one third of the Golden Trio, as the Wizarding folks around dub her and her two friends, the smart and logical third, famous for saving the Wizarding world at least one a year.

Hermione Granger was a Seventh Year, her last year of schooling at Hogwarts and 17 years of age.

Hermione Granger was in Potions where she was cutting up the lacewings to slithers and waiting the cauldron to boil before adding them, when the feeling came upon her.

" I hate this, I hate this, I hate this." Ron muttered under his breath as he grinded the viper tooth to power beside her.

" Buck up mate." Harry said in a low voice to encourage him. " It's only another half hour till lunch."

The redhead glared. Hermione looked over at him and sighed. The rash was slowly, but surely, spreading up his arm. The lanky boy was apparently allergic to the yellow butterweed root they had added earlier to the potion. None of them had known, the red haired boy having never been in contact with the plant before, but since the reaction wasn't serious, Professor Snape had pretended not to notice and refused to send the Gryffindor to the infirmary.

Professor Snape was mean like that.

She sent one more worried look at the red haired friend before the tingling rushed over her. It started like a small itch but she knew what was going to happen. A second later she gripped the table edge tightly with her hands, knuckles white and bowed her head so that her hair obscured her face. It looked as if she was reading the instructions on the page and a moment later her body gave a small tremble, but then stilled.

When the feeling left her and she was able to think clearly again, her face was pale and her lips stood a startling red against her skin. Her eyes shone bright amber and she forced her knuckle-white grip off the table.

Her hand shot up in the air and Harry and Ron looked at her from the corner of their eyes curious while she heard the steps of Professor Snape coming over.

" What is it?" The potions professor questioned surly.

" May I go to the lavatories?" she asked, face still pointed downwards, voice coming a bit muffled from under the hair.

She felt like she was going to puke.

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow but she said nothing else. He waited a few moments before nodding curtly. It was almost the end of class anyways.

" I'll take your books for you." Harry told her, hand brushing against her shoulders as their professor walked away.

Ron nodded while absently scratching at the rash. " We'll be stopping by the Hospital Wing."

She nodded and walked out of the room quickly. Once out in the hall, she headed for the one place where she knew would be empty. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She pushed off quickly into a sprint once she was clear of the dungeons and ran up the staircases, turning corners without stopping until she burst in through the door of her destination.

" Who's there!" Myrtle came flying out of the second stall. " Who dares inter-oh. It's just you."

" Leave me alone." She croaked, her voice raspy and Myrtle gasped hurt, and then flew away with a whirl.

She didn't know where the ghost had gone flying to, but she didn't care. Without another pause she skittered over to the wall and dropped when she reached the corner. Then she crawled underneath the sinks, a tight fit now that she was so much older than her First Year self, but she managed. Then she drew up into a ball, knees tucked under her chin and hands on her face.

She gave one choked sob before all became quiet and her shoulders shook and her body broke out in shivers.

_: - :_

Location: Unknown (Past)

She had always hated loneliness, as a child she had done everything she could to keep the feeling away. Begged the adults to stay, talked to imaginary friends, danced and tried to see an audience in her mind. Anything.

But then she began to love the times she was alone, because then no one expected anything of her, because then she could think of her own future, because then she was left _alone_.

Alone but not lonely, hard to be when you are but five years old.

They always wanted to play, the people that surrounded her, they never left her alone during the times she wanted to be alone, and they were never around when she was lonely, it soon became too much. The line between being alone and lonely blurred and thinned until it mingled with the two, and drove her to love the loneliness of being alone.

As she grew older into the fifth and sixth year of life, they left her alone more and more often each day. She knew it wasn't because of them not liking her, but simply because the people around her decreased. She never knew where they went, they were there one day and gone the next.

Soon only one was left with her, but she hadn't really cared. They never made sense to her anyways, one child among a group of adults - what was there to understand?

But she had understood them, if not their words than their ways. She understood if she was to do this, they would do that, and if she were to do that, then they would do this. Everything was amazing to a child's mind.

Even the sight of the lonely adult's body dangling from a rope attached to the ceiling.

She was taken each day after breakfast to another room other than the one she stayed with the group of adults, and people of ages both young and old would come and speak to her, teach her, listen to her.

She would return at night back to the room filled with adults and she would count them and find out how many had left that day. Sometimes none, sometimes up to the number of five.

It had never made any matter to her and when the people that taught her tried to explain to her that the last adult died in suicide because of loneliness, she had simply shrugged and asked them to get on with the lesson.

She hadn't known what to make of the face they gave her, but neither the less they still got on with the lesson, and that was all that mattered. A day later she was moved from her room to another.

And met for the first time people of her own age.

The day after that, on their seventh birthday, they were given names.

Names.

A name.

It had been a foreign concept to them all.

A name.

Acknowledgement of their existence.

A worth.

Yet at that time, it meant nothing to them.

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**. : End Prologue : .  
**


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

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Location: United States

Out there, across an ocean and several landscapes and seemingly lifetimes away from a floating castle in the coast of Scotland, people lived and dreamed.

People lived, dreamed, and died.

Some died for what they believed in, some died for what someone else believed in, and some just died because there was nothing else left for them.

Across an ocean and a lifetime, in a place of technology where people lived in buildings with electricity and controlled computers, one woman stood in front of a huge glass plane window in a white room with white furnishings. She wore a long white coat and she stared out at the nighttime scenery of a marvelous manmade and man-maintained garden.

Blue eyes with glasses perched on a delicate nose, fair hair of hay pulled back in a tight bun, slightly parted lips and a fragile hand lifted to touch the see-through plane. There were faint lines under her eyes and around her lips (could have been cause by laughter, could have not), and sounds came though her open bedroom door.

" Code Blue! Send out the back up! Attack troops, G-8! Deploy them now!" a man shouted before he ran past.

" Help request being sent in from Section U-5! Healers needed! Landscape is too dangerous on foot, fly the medics in!"

The sounds of wheels and people running and pushing. Blurred commands and the P.A. system called for order. Sound of boots headed in different directions and fast walking heels shouting instructions.

"Take him to the Emergency! Have the doctor on call take a look at him."

" We need more medics! Wake up the sleeping staff. There is too many wounded."

" Oh god! Neil, live Neil! You better not die on me you bastard!"

" Move it, we need to deploy immediately!"

Shouts and screams and then a tense quiet. A thud, the sound of someone slumping against the wall.

" There were so many wounded." A voice rasped. " And how many died."

" It'll be ok." This one was low grumble. " He'll survive, Sam."

" But how about all those out here? How many died? And sending more troops out now...how many more will die?" A broken sob.

" Sam..."

" You saw those things George! There wasn't anything we could do against them! We were getting massacred! And now they're sending more men out there...for what?"

The second voice did not have a reply and she closed her eyes.

In the world across the ocean and a lifetime away, in the chaos created by death and the dying, between the sterile white walls Dr. Melanie Avalon closed her eyes.

" God." Came the broken voice. " Save us."

Melanie felt saddened. She did not believe in God, because he never saved them before and she knew he wouldn't be saving those now headed towards their death. God couldn't save them but Melanie knew where their salvation was and it was far away, having done its duty once already and she had hoped it would never again have to be used.

Her shoulders slumped and she squeezed her eyes closed tightly.

. : - : .

Location: Europe

" Commander!" a shout from the left. " He's still alive!"

Jake Burns nodded curtly to the soldier and turned to his right where a bunch of people in white walked from body to body on the ground.

" Medic!" he ordered. " To Sheldon! He's found a live one!"

" Thank God." He heard the healer muttered as he walked past him.

Jake didn't feel like thanking God for putting them out in the middle of a battlefield after the fight and having to tend to the more often then not dead. But the man was a healer and if a healer didn't believe you could be saved then there really was no point, and if the belief of a God helped him heal, then let him have it.

" Medic!" Jake shouted again as one of his soldiers raised his hand in signal a few yards away. " To Anderson."

The war veteran watched as another white skittered over the dead bodies towards his other soldier. He then looked around the field and felt disgust rolling up inside.

Bodies littered the ground and they were all theirs.

Jake felt sick.

" Commander." A voice said then tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned to see his sub-commander Jane Frost standing next to a woman in a lab coat.

Jake felt like sneering. Heels and a skirt on sight of a battle. He was sure his dislike was clearly seen on his face, but the woman ignored it.

" Have you a body count yet, of the dead and the wounded?"

" No." He spat. " I'd like to say I did, but the number just keeps raising when I thought it couldn't be possible."

" Cause of death?" she asked.

" Severed heads, severed limbs, blood loss, crushed organs..." he swept an arm out in a mockery of show, " take your pick lady, you ask it, we got it."

Her mouth tightened but she ignored the jab, " Residue of magic?"

" Yes." Jake responded, jaw clenched. " Residue's been confirmed, in a large amount."

" And the bodies..." the woman continued.

" What?" he barked, losing patience. He lost some good soldiers today, and they lay by his feet. He didn't feel like being nice and he didn't want to have to bury them later either.

" Do any of them appear to be mauled or eaten?"

" What?"

" Do any of the bodies appear to be mauled or eaten." She repeated slowly.

" I heard you the fist time." He sneered and the woman stiffened. " Mauled or eaten…" he stared at her and let his gaze linger on the white coat. " Have you been expecting this?"

She looked away from the edge of steel in his voice.

" Woman!" He barked.

She bent down to examine the body closest to them, fingers pushing ripped cloth to stare at the place where the arm joined the shoulder – and the missing chunk of flesh.

" My name," her voice as stiff as her posture as she straightened up, " is Dr. Lana Steel. And you better watch your tongue Commander."

" Why? Because you'll report me?"

" No. Because I might be what saves you one day."

Jake grinded his teeth together but managed to pull his anger in. Dr. Lana Steel nodded once to both him and Jane then turned and walked away.

" Who is she?" Jane asked, watching the end of the lab coat flutter in the wind as the doctor walked out of range.

" A Scientist." He spat the word out like a curse.

Jane didn't understand and he knew she wouldn't. Jane had started at her post only 4 years ago. Although a good length of time, she still hadn't been there for the war that happened before. Jake watched Dr. Lana turn and walk out of sight, then let his eyes drift down to the unfortunate by his feet with the missing shoulder.

He said no more that night.

. : - : .

Location: Hogwarts

" Do you think Hermione's okay?" Ron asked Harry ask they hurried down the hall. " She didn't show up after Potions that day and Lavender said she saw Hermione looking very pale since."

Harry shrugged. " It's only been 3 days since then. Could be the girl thing you know."

Ron blinked. " The what?"

Harry just looked at him until a dawning happened.

" Oh." Ron shuffled uncomfortably. " Do you think that's it?"

Harry shrugged reluctantly. " If it's anything important, she'd let us know."

" Alright."

They shuffled past the Transfiguration room and headed towards the Astronomy tower when they say Hermione stumble out of the girls lavatory. They both came to a halt and reached out to steady her.

" Are you alright?" Harry exclaimed as they both grabbed an arm and kept her up.

Ron looked concerned as she lifted her head to look at them, face pale and sweating. She was shaking a little as well.

" Hermione?" Ron asked, "Are you okay?"

She blinked at them, dazed for a few seconds as her eyes roamed from one to the other. " I- I'm fine. I just need to lay down for a bit."

" Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" Harry looked at her glassy eyes worriedly.

" No!" She jerked her head. " No. I...uh, I just need to lay down. Pain. Pain." She winced. " Pain from uh...um..." She looked at the two of them in slight panic, then shifted her glance to the lavatory in which she had came from.

Harry and Ron locked eyes over her head and looked away embarrassed.

" Right. Pain from uh, that." Ron said knowing.

Harry nodded quickly, " Right. Do you need help getting back to the dorm?"

She shook her head and slowly pulled her arms off of them. Then took a few unsteady steps back, but stayed upright and then straightened. " I'm fine."

" You sure?" Harry knitted his brows. " Want me to stop off at the Hospital Wing and pick up a pain reliever potion for you? I'm sure since it's like every month...and all the girls we have here at school..." He grappled for an end.

She blinked at him for a moment then understanding dawn, and a flash in her eyes, before she shook her head. " No, I'm fine. In fact, I'm better already. I took some Midol"

" Mido-?" Ron repeated and Harry made a slicing motion. " Never mind."

The red head shut up and the look of relief on he other boy's face told him it was a good move.

" I'm going back to the Tower for some rest." The pale girl whispered. " Head off to class you two."

" Do you need one to us to escort you there?" Harry asked.

" No."

" Are you su-?"

" Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley!" They three turned to see Professor McGonagall walking towards them. " I believe you two have class. I am aware that only Miss Granger has a spare this period."

" Hermione wasn't feeling so well." Ron tried to explain to the disapproving teacher. " We only wanted to make sure she wasn't going to fall over getting back to the Tower."

The teacher looked the girl over and her lips pinched as she noticed the extra whiteness of her skin. McGonagall gave a quick nod but stared the two boys down.

" One of you will escort Miss Granger back to Gryffindor Tower, but the other will head off to class now."

The red head opened his mouth, but quickly shut it when Harry agreed.

" I'll take her back to the Tower." The skinny boy said.

Ron shot his friend an unhappy look, but McGonagall only nodded, and turned away to head off to class. The raven-haired boy wrapped an arm around the girl and tucked her against his side.

" Ready to go Hermione?" he asked.

The Gryffindor girl leaned onto him and nodded. Together they walked towards the Tower. McGonagall watched them go with a pinched mouth and concern, her prize student should be watching her health more.

" Minevra?"

The Transfiguration teacher turned to see the Headmaster standing next to her.

" Albus." She said in getting.

The blue eyes twinkled down at her. " Worrying about your kittens?"

Her lips turned down in disapproval. " I do not appreciate the term."

The Headmaster chuckled but refrained from continuing that line of conversation. " I wanted to inform you there would be a meeting tonight. After dinner, at the usual place."

_Meeting at the usual place_ meant a meeting for the Order. She drew her brows together and looked at him for clues of why the sudden gathering, but nodded. Something must have happened or some new information had come tot light.

" Jolly good." Albus said smiling at her. " Now I have to run off to talk to the Minister about some new issues. Take care of the children while I'm away will you?"

" Of course." She answered primly and he chuckled at her.

" I'll be seeing you tonight then." The Headmaster said once again before walking off.

The Transfiguration professor turned to the sound of giggles and saw two of the Second Years walking by and looking at her specutively from under their lashes. Her mouth tightened, Merlin only knew what they thought with those parting words. She wondered if Albus had known, and then told herself of course he had known. Her eyes darkened and she swore that her old Transfiguration professor would pay.

Nearing the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry and Hermione paused.

" Are you okay the rest of the way?" He asked.

" I'll be fine Harry." She assured. " I just need some rest."

" Are you sure?" Harry bit his lip, " I know you said it was probably...your uh," He blushed. " Time of month, but it seem a bit extreme isn't it? You've never been affected as far as I can remember."

She gave a small amused smile at his red cheeks and he scowled at her but couldn't stop the blush. She gave a small giggle before composing herself.

" I think I had an allergic reaction to the Ginseng in Potions a few days ago."

Harry blinked. " You mean the same day Ron had the reaction to Butterweed?"

She nodded. " I was allergic to Ginseng when I was a child. But I thought I outgrew it." She drew up a sleeve so he could see the red patches and bumps on her skin. " I had a break out. I usually get hives and the shivers. I also end up with a sensitive stomach."

" Oh. But why didn't you go see Madam Pomfrey?"

She shook her head. " There's nothing she can do. I researched it up before." She ignored his eye roll. " Muggle treatment also doesn't work. All I can do is wait it out. I sent home for some rash cream and I just have to eat light until it passes. The, uh, timing seems to be making the symptoms worse. But it'll pass."

He reached out for her as her eyes widened and her body suddenly gave a shudder. He caught her as she tipped forward and she grabbed hold of his shirt.

" Dizzy..." she said.

" When was the last time you kept a meal down?" He asked as he realized she felt skinnier than before.

" I had a toast with juice this morning." She replied weakly as he moved towards the portrait.

Now Harry was remembering all the times she had been excusing herself to the washroom after every meal in the past few days, and cursed himself for not noticing sooner.

" Password?"

" Waterglem." He told the Fat Lady and she swung open.

He heaved the two of them into the entrance and helped her walk to the stairway of the Girl's dorm.

" Can you make it up there alone?" He looked down at her shivering body and tightened his hold. Suddenly he wished Ron was here, the red head was bigger and could support Hermione more.

She gave a gasp then stilled. She extracted her form from his arms and stood straight. " I'll be fine. Go to class."

He frowned. " I'm not going until I see you enter your dorm door safely. And get plenty of rest. I'll check up on you later with Ron."

She made a face at him but placed an arm and walked up the stairs. Her steps were steady and she looked fine, like she hadn't been shaking in his arms just a moment ago. When she got to the Seventh Year dorm, she looked down and waved at him. He waved back and watched her enter. He waited a few moments, and when she made no move to call for him and there were no sounds he could hear of something falling, he turned and walked out to head to class.

: - :

Location: Unknown (Past) 

I'll remember even if no one else does. Even as the sky turn gray and the rain turns into snow, I'll remember. Because there is no way for me to ever forget.

I remember pain-filled cries that flooded the air. I remember rivers that ran red with blood, because it was nothing else but blood. I remember love and hatred, so closely intertwined that you couldn't tell one from the other. And I remember the darkness.

The soul consuming, cruel and merciful darkness.

How I wish I could forget.

I remember lies so true that they rang fake, songs so sweet that they became bitter, and words so deep that they turned shallow. I remember.

My childhood was one that none would ever wish upon even their darkest enemy. For you of those that think that parents were cruel for not showing their care about their children, think again.

I would have rathered that they hadn't cared at all then to care enough to pretend.

I remember a one year old coming home to a warm house and loving parents.

_I remember oblivion._

I remember a two year old looking up at smiling adults.

_I remember a toddler's first glimpse of a knife._

I remember a three year old smiling and singing.

_I remember a child singing the siren's song._

I remember a four year old finally getting its own room.

_I remember an attic._

I remember a five-year-old spending quality time with her family.

_I remember the freezing cold of loneliness._

I remember a six year old venturing outside for the first time without a guardian.

_I remember the terror filled eyes._

I remember a child's overwhelming sense curiosity.

_I remember the earth disappearing from underneath my feet. _

: - :

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**End Chapter One**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

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Location: Order of the Phoenix Headquarters 

Dumbledore entered the room and greeted the sight of the members of the Order sitting at a round table with a nod. He quickly took in the fact that Arabella, Tonks, and Kingsley hadn't been able to make it, but everyone else was in attendance.

" Meeting is now in session." He said as he took his seat.

" What's this meeting about, Dumbledore?" Mad-Eye Moody asked shrewdly. " You called it on a short notice."

" What happened?" Molly Weasley demanded worriedly. " Is it Harry? Ron? Did something happen to the kids?"

" Now, now Molly." Arthur Weasley placated his wife. " I'm sure the kids are fine. There has been no news about anything happening at Hogwarts in the past while."

Dumbledore nodded at Arthur. " As Arthur said, there has been no happenings at Hogwarts worth worrying about. What I have called this meeting about actually is on the accounts of what Kingsley and Tonks have been working on."

" Communications with the other governments?" Severus Snape piped up. " Have they finally answered our request for backup?"

Dumbledore shook his head. " Their response, actually, is the opposite. They finally got back to us two days ago, and said they couldn't spare us any troops."

" Which government was this?" Bill Weasley asked.

" North America."

" And what about the other places? Europe?" Moody demanded.

Albus shook his head again. " They said they had other things to worry about. They said they didn't have time to worry about our small disagreement." Then frowned. " In fact, France and China said the same thing."

" Small disagreement?" Severus snapped. " What the bloody hell do they think is happening?"

" Severus Snape!" Molly said appalled at his language.

The Potions master ignored her. " People are dying! Innocents are being killed! We're on the outbreak of a war!"

" Yes." Mad –Eye Moody said gravelly. " Like how it happens one time or another in every country."

" Alastor is right." Dumbledore said, ignoring the look the Potions Master shot the Ex-Auror. " If they refuse to offer us help, there is nothing we can do about it, but keep sending in requests and hope for a response."

Remus Lupin hummed in agreement but then added, " What I want to know is why, almost all of them seem to be on semi-alert themselves. It seems like there are battles happening without our knowledge."

Snape snorted. " Who cares? Let them worry about their own battles, we need to worry about ours."

" No doubt exactly what they're saying about us." Bill murmured.

Molly shot his son a look but Arthur nodded knowingly. " Not much we can do about it. So how do we plan to proceed?"

Dumbledore nodded in agreement to the oldest Weasley child and turned back to his people to make plans.

. : - : .

Location: United States

She gently placed the banquet of flowers on top of the grave and stepped back, staring down with soft pained eyes.

" Rest in peace." She whispered, almost a plea. " Rest in peace."

A hand came down around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She buried her face in his chest and her shoulders shook with the silent sobs.

He looked down at the grave, his eyes hard but pained as well.

" Rest in peace. Please. We need you to." He told the grave gently but then his voice became raspy and desperate. " Find peace in death, the peace neither we couldn't in life."

And they stayed like that, for a long time whilst their other companions waited at the car, having done their respects already. They stayed staring at the headstone in silence for while. Later, slowly, almost tenderly, they turned their feet around and walked back to the parking lot, and left the graveyard.

As they walked away, there were several others walking away from the stones all lined up in a row. There were many freshly dug graves that day. She choked back a sob and he wound his arms around her shoulder to support her. He lead them out of the rows of stones, leaving only the wind and earth hold its treasure dear, and the tombstones to whisper of truth no one should ever have to hear.

Around the world, many funerals were happening the same way.

. : - : .

Location: France

" How's the situation?" The commander asked his officer.

The brown-eyed man ran a hand through his short hair. " No improvement. We can't seem to track down where all those..._monsters_ are coming from."

The superior officer scanned his eyes over the papers spread out on the table. " What had we been able to find out? Anything at all?"

The younger man took a calming breath and lifted a sheet. " Soldiers came back declaring they had been fighting monsters. _Abominations_. Three handed, eight legged, ten-eyed, black/brown/red/green...you name it. Sharp teeth, jagged teeth, skin of...leather, slime, mud, lav..." He swallowed. " They came back praying for a God."

" Have we been able to track down where they had originated from?"

" First sighting was in the United States two months back. They lost a lot of soldiers."

The superior's lips curled. " We all have. Regular bullets don't seem to work and they plow through our troops. We can't nuke them; we'd kill our own people that way. We have been able to use freeze bullets and electric surges against them."

" Do you think..." he trailed off.

The older man looked down at him, eye sharp and he bit this lip. He gnawed a little while on the flesh, weighing the pros and cons of the thought, before hesitantly speaking. " The Weapon..."

The higher-ranking officer fisted his hands tight. " Not until we're sure. Not until we absolutely have to."

Blue eyes drifted down in guilt, shame, anger, confusion, and loathing. Memories of days not-so-long ago drifted though both their minds and the younger man waited cautiously.

" I never want to have to go through that ago." He finished hoarsely.

The younger officer couldn't agree more, and once again, they turned back to the papers. Searching for a way out.

. : - : .

Location: Hogwarts

Dawn broke over the horizon and pale golden light seeped through the window planes of the Gryffindor Boy's Room Dorm. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigin slept soundly, while Ronald Weasley mumbled of cakes and twigs, and Harry Potter tossed and turned in his bed with sweat over his brows.

_A fire burned down the house. Children screaming as they ran ad cried and wanted to hide. Smoke rose upward to the setting sky and people stood by and watched, watched silently as children ran passed them and the support beams crashed down._

_Momma! Momma! _

_There is no God, child. No such mercy._

_Why won't someone save us, mother? Why do we have to suffer?_

_Are we in pain, ma cheri? I can't tell anymore._

_Don't die. Don't die. Don'tdie.Don'tdie._

_Take the Risk. It's in you._

He bolted upright in the bed, gasping for air and body gleaning with sweat. Wide emerald eyes stared off in the darkness not understanding and not comprehending anything.

_It's in you._

The sparkling eyes dulled to a generic green and he fell backwards in a slumber.

_It's in you._

. : - : .

She sat on the couch in the common room. Red surrounded her and she stared dully into the fire. She was dressed in her white cotton pajamas, matching shirt and pants. She curled up by the arm of the sofa and breathed silently.

Flames burned brightly in her brown eyes and she felt the faint traces of recognition inside of her. She looped her arms around her knees and watched the sparks flying off the logs. It was warm in the Gryffindor common room in Hogwarts, and safe.

Hermione pondered how much longer it would remain so. Something inside of her made her pensive. She turned to look up at the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories, and wondered if Harry was sleeping soundly.

As time passed and the year went on, it would soon be clear that in the end, it would be Harry against Voldemort. Harry against Voldermort, period. No one between the two. The adults seemed to be in denial of the fact, all trying to smother him, treating him as a nuisance when they caught him sneaking about, and not preparing him at all.

Dumbledore seemed to have the clearest sight of all, having made private weekly meetings between himself and Harry – of which Harry would come back and tell her and Ron what had happened. But he was still with holding a lot of information from Harry.

Harry knew it too. Harry felt betrayed and treated Dumbledore differently since an incident last year when the Headmaster had imposed a significant piece of information to him – of which he still hadn't told Hermione and Ron.

He had brushed it off so Ron had simply let it be, but Hermione knew there was something Harry was hiding from them. He always was now, it seemed. She felt more and more stressed these days, just waiting for some kind of sign of how things were going.

Dumbledore had said things were under control but that hadn't saved Cedric Diggory in back in Fourth Year. Hermione pushed herself up and walked up to her dorm. She needed some sleep before the day started. She turned at the top of the stairs, directly across from Harry and Ron's dorm, hearing movement and a gasp.

_It's in you._

It was silent again and staring into the shadows, she let her thoughts linger on the possibilities. Turning, she decided maybe they needed to call a DA meeting soon.

. : - : .

The dungeons were as dark as they always were, there were no windows, whether the sun had risen or not was told by the clocks on the walls. Blaise Zabini looked down at his feet as he came down the stairway from the dorms to the common room. His blue-green eyes were intense but far away. His thoughts as were focused on a certain someone who had become withdrawn and he felt dread at the fear that sometimes that entered her eyes these days.

He looked up as he walked off the last step and felt he was not alone. His eyes scanned the Slytherin common room and found its only other occupant this early on the couch, gazing dazedly into the far.

The shimmering ash blonde head of Draco Malfoy was not easily mistake for anyone else. His gray eyes were unfocused and his pale hands clasped in front of him, white knuckled.

" Malfoy." He said in acknowledgment, making the other boy jump.

" Zabini." The other Syltherin said coolly, trying to cover his lapse.

The black haired Sicilian lifted a brow, " You're up early."

The blonde looked away to the fire, the flames reflecting off his gray eyes. " I couldn't sleep."

" I know."

Malfoy turned his head sharply to look at him.

" You were tossing and turning."

Blaise's eyes were dark with thought as he stared at other boy. They were both the same gender and year and they shared a dorm room together, as they had through out all the years at Hogwarts. It was not unusual for light sleepers like Blaise to be awakened from the sounds of one of his dorm mates having a restless night or dream. The other boy kept his chin up and looked out haughtily, but the small blush he tried to keep down was easily found on his pale skin.

Blaise wondered if what he thought what had kept the boy up was real or not. The Sicilian nodded his head and turned to walk towards the back of the portrait to leave the Slytherin quarters. He could feel Malfoy's gaze on his back steadily, but it wasn't until he place a hand on the portrait and pushed it open did the other boy speak.

" Have you ever..." The words rushed out of Malfoy's mouth but then stopped. Then repeated as if he was pulling teeth. " Have you ever...thought maybe you were forgetting something?"

The two were dorm mates and had been in the same House for years, but they were not close friends. They did not confide in each other. Blaise turned, leaned back on the open portrait, and raised a brow.

" I mean, I mean." Draco stumbled verbally, ringing his arms. " Like you woke up and you're forgetting something important that you've just learned and you really should remember. Even if you didn't really know it before, and you should remember even though it wasn't really there."

" Like in a dream you mean?" Blaise said voice cool but eyes sharp.

Malfoy froze, opened his mouth, closed it, then slide a cold look over his face. " Never mind. It was nothing."

Blaise didn't believe it and something in his eyes flashed for a quick second. The black haired boy tilted his head, voice strangely compelling. " You have Potential, Draco. What you do with it, is up to you."

Without waiting for the other boy to respond his walked out of the entry way, leaving behind a confused Draco Malfoy staring at where he had been with his words circling in his head.

Walking down the corridor Blaise clenched his fists. His steps were quick and heavy, his eyes dropped down but flaring with inner light. He turned a left at the third open hallway and headed towards the outside grounds.

He had a lot to think about and energy he needed to expend.

. : - : .

Location: Russia

" Have we made any headway?"

" No Sir. We've been able to slow the forces down, but we can't totally annihilate them. It takes too much manpower to fight them, and as soon as we take one down – another appears. There is only so many of us, and so _many_ of them."

The superior commander scribbled away on the documents in front of him. " So we've found nothing at all."

" ..."

He looked up sharply at the younger soldier. The younger officer was avoiding his gaze and looking out the window at the snow covered land.

" Out with it soldier."

" The cold slows some of them." The soldier said in a low voice, " but it makes some of the others better. They are better in various environments."

" That tells me nothing I didn't know soldier."

The soldier swallowed. " One of the rookies..."

The commander gazed steadily. " Yes?"

" They were caught unawares, Sir, and very frightened." Here the soldier paused. " They were outside and chased back. They ran back inside the Academy using one of the more obscure entrances and were backed off to one of the older parts, pressed against locked doors. They broke the lock and used the weapons they found there."

The commander made an impatient noise in his throat, seeing no relevance.

The soldier swallowed again. " It was...they broke into PW-13."

The commander paled.

" They..." The voice dropped low again. " The monsters...they...all the ammo was used up and the monsters were driven back, screaming and screeching in pain."

The commander dropped his head. " No..." he rasped.

The soldier swallowed to try to wet the dread-dry throat. A tongue darted out to wet dry lips before continuing. " So the theory need not be tested...we have the results."

" No!" The commander jumped to his feet. " No. We will make no report of this."

" But!"

" No!" The superior's voice was sharp.

" ..."

" What about the soldiers?"

" Their shoulders are out of joint from the unexpected recoil they did not prepare for, most of them also sustained injuries in the escape – they have been put in the infirmary until they are healed."

The commander nodded. " Take them off active duty. And do not let them hand in a formal report of anything."

" But...we can't hide it forever."

The commander looked out the window silently. The gloom seemed to push down on their two shoulders heavily.

" Give it one week." He said finally, voice husky, and swallowed, the pain in his eyes clear.

The soldier looked away. It was always wrong to see a strong man weak.

" Understood." The soldier saluted and walked out the door.

The commander sat on his chair and looked out to the softly falling snow in silence. The white of the land glared back at him in the daylight.

" It would have been your birthday soon..." He murmured. " ...Jack..."

: - :

Location: Unknown (Past)

_Will I ever amount to anything?_

That question tormented her day and night, always there and floating around her mind, there wasn't a day she hadn't ever asked herself that.

_Will I ever amount to anything worthy?_

Will her parents look at what she was with pride? Will her friends approve of what she would become? Will her co-workers look upon with liking?

_Will I ever amount to anything worthy to me? _

That was the true question that was what she really wanted to know. Would she like what she would be when she was older? Would she respect herself and what she was doing? Would she like what she was? If she looked into the future could she honestly say that she like what she saw? This was what she truly wanted to know. She already amount to so much, as Potter's friend and otherwise, but will she like what she amounted to in the future?

But even as she wondered this question, she never let anyone tell her the answer. And so the question changed.

_Will I ever amount to anything?_

That question haunted her day and night... 

: - :

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**End Chapter Two**


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